Opinions about USA Baby

[lisbeth916]

Hi,
I am looking for opinions regarding USA Baby (the store here changes names a lot, sometimes it says The Baby's Room). I am looking for both postive and negative feedback. I am thinking of ordering my crib from them. What should I do? TIA ~Beth

[Rikkele]

I can tell you that the store here in Orlando just one day up and closed their doors and disappeared. They didn't notify their customers, they just vanished. There was a news story about it. The people who had ordered cribs/furniture were basically left out of luck. Not sure what ever happened to those poor people who made deposits and were expecting cribs. What a nightmare!! I would be wary of this company, especially if your local store changes names a lot. Would hate for you to lose your money.

[amp]

I bought my crib and rocking chair from USA Baby in KS and were very happy with the service and the product we received. I did not order any items though. I had heard horror stories about people ordering cribs/furniture from many baby & furniture stores, only to recieve damaged merchandise or delayed orders, or orders that could/would never be filled. I chose to buy a product that was in stock, so that I could take it with me and when I put it together, there was no chance that the store would be out of business before I had a solid, excellent condition crib. Under those circumstances, we feel we made a great purchase. And we found the staff to be very helpful in guiding us. We chose not to buy their mattresses, though, as we felt we could get a good quality mattress at a better price elsewhere.

[audys]

I have not bought furniture from USA Baby but go there to look at items. Their prices are really retail or higher (I'm not sure why but some of their stroller prices are HIGHER than suggested retail from the manufacturer). The staff are not very knowledgable but friendly at the store near me. Happy crib shopping,

Audrey, mother to Graham born Feb, 2004

http://lilypie.com/baby1/050210/3/15/1/+10/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[tiapam]

From their website, it looks like some or all of their stores are franchises, so you could get a lot of variation between stores. I have been to two here in Chicago, and the one that is further north actually had a kind of depressing feeling, sort of a perpetual going out of business feeling. Very strange for a baby store. The one that is closer to downtown had a much different feeling, but it is in a tonier neighborhood. I haven't bought anything from either store, though it is the only place I have seen the Combi Strolee car ceat carrier, which I thought was really cool. The merchandise is kind of a weird mix of furniture, "travel" gear, and odds and ends.

I had the same dilemma when considering a crib from Baby Depot, which doesn't seem to have the greatest rep. We wound up getting a floor model for $200. I felt better doing it that way rather than ordering. But I have to say that the BD we went to was pretty darn good. They held the crib until I could get in to see it.

Good luck!

-Pam

[Mommaof2]

I bought my crib from them. It was missing some of the hardware they supplied it with a phone call. We live 1/2 hr away so we just went to pick it up. Not sure if they would have mailed it for free.

I've also bought my jogger and umbrella stroller from them. Good selection but very strict return policy

[DDowning]

I didn't order a crib from them, but I did order a changing pad cover to match my bedding. It took them 8 weeks to get their act together to get it to me! And that was jut a $30 item, I'd doubt I'd order a higher priced product.

HTH!

[lisaE]

We ordered DS's crib, mattress, dresser, nightstand, and armoire from USA baby and had GREAT service all the way. We had seen the crib cheaper at another place and they matched the price. They delivered and assembled the furniture right on time. I love the USA baby here in Dallas! We recently went back there to buy DS's bigger carseat. Their staff is so knowlegeable, and they spend a lot of time answering questions and helping you if you need it. The Britax Marathon was $15 cheaper there than at Babies R Us.

I know that some folks absolutely hate USA Baby with a passion. But, we have had nothing but good luck with them.

[jillraeann]

We purchased our (new) Sorelle Crib and a quality (so we thought) comination dresser/changing table with a hutch that was a floor model in GREAT condition. We paid for the furniture (the dresser was over $1100.00). They were kind enough to store the furniture for us for 3 weeks until we finished painting. I was so excited to pick up the merchandise. We found a friend with a truck to help us pick it up. I was VERY disappointed to see a huge gash in the hutch about 14" long. Here they are trying to load it in our friends truck in this condition. I asked them to stop and He looked surprised to see this. I was wondering how he could have missed this. I went to the cahiers desk to talk to the salesperson. I let her know we would not be taking it in this condition. This happen to be the last and they were not dealing with this vendor from Canada any longer. I was most disapponted in the girls response. She acted as if she were inconvenienced by this and disappointed I just didn't take it. She was rude to both my husband and I when we said we just wanted our money back and we would not be taking it in this condition. I had thought up until that point that they had good customer service. She never apologized or thanked us for the 500 dollars we did spend there. On a positive note...I do like that they will match prices though and we are very happy with our crib! Good luck!
Jill

[jen2]

I bought a Pali Mia crib from the store in Torrance, CA for $399 "on sale" during their one day sale in June (I think it was June). The salesgirl was very convincing that I was getting a great deal, but I was a little suspicious since the pressure was to pay the deposit up front in order to get the sale price. I did, went home and did some research on the internet, and while it was a fair price, it wasn't GREAT. I was more miffed when I went back to pick up the crib and saw it "on sale price" again for $399.

It's a great crib, I didn't have any problems with the product, and it even came earlier than they told me. I just felt the sales pitch was unneccessarily dramatic.

[kaylinsmommy2]

I think you should see if you can find out specific information on your USA Baby store in your area, becuase they are all franchise stores. The one here in San Diego is wonderful! (or at least, we didn't have any of those problems). We bought crib, stroller, convertable carseat, playmat, diaper bin and some other smaller items from their store. The crib had to be ordered and delivered, and the carseat just had to be on order (since they didn't have any in stock). We got all of our items without any problems. Everything went well. I agree with PP about the sales - they have many sales often (the "one day only" sales are best, I think, but they do them maybe every other month - more ofthen than I had thought). And their return policiy is strict. But they sell things that they don't sell anywhere else, and their CS is so much better than Babies R Us - everyone knows which is best and why (especially for carseats and strollers). Do your research first - see which items you like IRL at USA Baby, and see if you can get it for cheaper online. If not (usually shippnig is more expensive for big items), then USA Baby might be a good choice.
Caroline

[lisbeth916]

Thank you everyone for your opinions. Even tho I am not a gambler, I decided to go for it. I have never had to "order" anything and wait so long for it before. The biggest factor in deciding to go with USA Baby is that I really wanted a Legacy crib. USA Baby told me that yes, they have been seeing orders come through from Childcraft/Legacy. I decided to call Childcraft/Legacy and ask for myself, the representative told me that yes indeed they are shipping, slowly, but they are. I then went to the store and asked them what happens if my order is not here in 12 weeks or so? She told me that they quote 8-14 weeks to cover themselves, at 8 weeks we can call and check on the status. After 14 weeks I have different options, I can get something else (baby ETA 4 weeks at this point) or they will loan me a crib. I was planning on using a cradle (used to be mine as an infant) at first anyway. I didn't have that "feel" not to do it. So, I went and ordered it.

Now, as far as their "sale"........ I said to her, so your sale started on Saturday. She said, "yes, it was Saturday". I said OH, only for one day, she said, "yes, would you like the sales price?" All I could say was "yes please". Hmmmm. I also could decide how much I wanted to put down on the deposit.

I guess we shall see how it goes, thanks again for everyone's input.
~Beth
'

[Rikkele]

I hope it all goes smoothly for you. I LOVE my Legacy crib!!! I also used a cradle for DD in our room until she was 3 1/2 mos and then moved her to her crib in the nursery. So you should be ok even if it takes 12 wks for crib to arrive. Good luck!

[deannanb]

I bought our crib, mattress, dresser and changing table (all Bonivata) from USA Baby in Dallas. They were wonderful! The woman who helped me was great! She was always around when I had a question and was able to answer my question or look it up within a matter of minutes!

They said everything would be delivered within 6 weeks - and it was!

I would use them again!

Deanna
EDD 11.2.04